Historically, primary care and behavioral healthcare have operated as independent and separate entities. However, our healthcare delivery system continues to evolve and develop best practices for integrating the array of primary and behavioral healthcare into unified operational models.

Virtual conference proposals related to integrated behavioral healthcare should help to advance attendee understanding of best practices, workforce development, models of integrated care, and/or research and should contain the following elements:

Review a training model and methods for advancing core competencies in the integration of behavioral health and primary care; and

Discuss how acquisition of essential knowledge and skills is organized and measured in a practice setting.

Providing evidence-based/culturally informed care is what will make the difference in addressing the mental health needs of children, adolescents, transitional-age youth, rural, and other underserved populations.

Virtual conference proposals related to evidence-based/culturally informed practices should help to advance attendee understanding of specific approaches for reaching children adolescents, transitional-age youth, rural, and underserved populations and should contain the following elements:

Describe how you have examined factors that impact the physical/mental health, social, academic, interpersonal functioning of high-need populations such as children, adolescents, transitional-age youth, rural, and other underserved populations; and

Discuss how you have developed, implemented and evaluated an evidence-based, culturally relevant program that targets the mental health of high-need populations such as children, adolescents, transitional-age youth, rural, and other underserved populations.

HRSA has funded programs to increase behavioral health workforce training and development, which has included the creation of innovative, high performing academic-community collaborations and partnerships, which serve as models of inclusive, integrated, and multidisciplinary training.

Virtual conference proposals related to High Performing Academic/Community Collaborations and Partnerships in Behavioral Health should contain the following elements:

Identify high performing academic-community collaborations in your project, including discussion of their nature and structure, their successes, as well as challenges and risks; and

Provide a review of your project setting, its trainees, project goals and objectives, including the methods used to develop, implement, and evaluate strategies specific to academic-community collaborations and partnerships.

Virtual Conference proposals related to the Emerging Issues track should contain the following elements:

Illustrate emerging issue(s) identified through your project and include an overview of successes, challenges, and risks related to workforce diversity and distribution (rural/urban), as well as increased access to care; and

Provide a review of the methods used to develop, implement, and evaluate strategies specific to the emerging issues identified.

What did attendees learn during the conference?

Attendees:

identified cutting-edge education and training strategies to develop practice and leadership skills in interprofessional practice and integration of behavioral health in primary care;

learned best practices for the prevention and treatment of children, adolescents, and transitional-age youth, and rural, and other underserved population, who have or are at risk for developing a recognized behavioral health disorder; and

found out about strategies to enhance the distribution of behavioral health workforce serving underserved and/or rural populations.

Continuing Education Units (CEUs)
The American Psychological Association, National Board of Certified Counselors and the New Mexico Nurses Association provided CEUs.*

*The New Mexico Nurses Association approves HRSA as an Approved Continuing Education Provider by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation, Activity approval number # 1709-02. We clearly identified programs that did not qualify for CE credit.